iWorld

OTT video services dominate US network traffic

MUMBAI: The latest internet traffic trend report from Sandvine has reported that the network traffic in the US is dominated by over the top (OTT) video services.

Tracking of the fixed and mobile networks across the globe shows that peer-to-peer file sharing has fallen below 10 per cent of the total traffic in North America. This is starkly different from the 60 per cent share it consumed 11 years ago in the heyday of Napster and other P2P services. Even five years ago, it accounted for over 31 per cent. The figure was reported in the six-monthly survey conducted by the broadband network solutions provider, Global Internet Phenomena Report 2H2013.

The report has also found that the OTT leader Netflix (31.6 per cent) held its ground as the leading downstream application in North America, and together with YouTube (18.6 per cent) accounts for over 50 per cent of downstream traffic on fixed networks.

Average monthly mobile usage in Asia-Pacific now exceeds 1GB, driven by video, which accounts for 50 per cent of peak downstream traffic, more than double the 443MB monthly average in North America.